Tile-machine.



PATENTED DEC. 25, 1906.

L. R. PEGK. TILE MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 6. 1906.

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UNITE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LUKE R. PECK, OF OARO, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO CHARLES O. THOMAS,

OF OARO, MICHIGAN.

TILE-MACHINE,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 25, 1906.

Application filed June 6, 1906. Serial No- 320,402.

To (LILY/771,07)! it may concern:

Be it known that I, LUKE R. Pack, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Caro, in the county of Tuscola and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Tile-Machines, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to improvements in machines for making tiles; and its object is to provide a machine for the purpose having simple and efficient means for feeding and packing the cement into the molds and to provide it with certain other new and useful features and the several advantages of the particular construction, arrangement, and combination of parts, all as hereinafter more fully described, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a device embodying the invention and showing the outer mold-casings in section. Fig. 2 is a plan view of power-driving mechanism for the feeders. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a modi fied form of feeder, and Fig. 4 is a vertical section through one of the molds and feeders.

1 is a base or bed having secured thereto in a vertical position one or more cylindrical cores 2 and a vertical stationary shaft 3, secured at its lower end in a socket in the base.

4 designates outer cylindrical mold-shells, which are of greater internal diameter than the diameter of the cores, so that when placed over the cores there is a space between within which cement is packed to form the tiles, and each of these shells is provided with a bottom having a hole within which the core fits, and thus forming a bottom or inwardlyextending flange 5 to engage the lower end of the tile and strip the same off the core when the shell is lifted. Resting upon the upper end of each shell is an outwardly-flaring hopper 6, supported in position thereon by being secured to a bracket 7, sleeved upon the shaft 3. A hollow feed-cylinder 8, adapted to fit over the core, is provided for each mold and is formed with a continuous screw-thread 9 on its outer surface. The thread and wall of the cylinder are just thick enough to fill the space between the shell and core, and a square thread is preferably used, as it forms a better channel between its turns for the ocment. The upper end 10 of each feedcylinderis formed conical, and at the axis of said conlcal end is secured a vertically-extending shaft 11, which may be formed at its upper end into a crank 12 for turning the cylinder when the same is turned by hand. 13 is a guide-bracket secured upon the shaft 3 and provided with bearings for the shafts 11, within which said shafts are free to 'turn or move longitudinally.

The hole in the bottom ofv each hopper is the same size as the internal diameter of the mold-shell, and thus when the feed-cylinder is placed in the mold through this opening, cement placed in the hopper, and the feedcylinder turned by means of its handle the cement will engage the groove between the turns of the thread and be fed thereby to the bottom of the mold. When the thread is a right-hand thread, the cylinder will be turned to the left, and thus when the cement reaches the bottom of the mold the inclined lower face of the end of the thread which is being turned backward will ride upon the cement, and as the space gradually fills, the cylinder being free to move vertically, will be lifted out by the cement, which at the same time is firmly packed in. by the weight of the cylinder.

Then the molds are filled and the cylinders have been lifted with their lower ends even with the tops of the molds, they are swung, together with the hoppers, horizontally from over the molds, the supportingbrackets turning upon the supporting-shaft, and the mold-shells may then be lifted vertically from their cores, removing the molded tiles therewith. The turning of the hoppers and feeders from over the molds smooths or strikes off the cement in the upper end of the mold, and the feeders being still supported with their lower ends in the bottoms of the hoppers prevent any residue of cement which may remain in the hoppers from falling out.

A motor-driven machine of large capacity may be made by arranging a series of molds in pairs, as shown in Fig. 2, and upon the vertical shafts of the feeders, providing wormgears 14 to mesh with worms 15 upon a driving-shaft 16, extending horizontally between the rows of molds.

be actuated by any suitable motor.

In Fig. 3 is shown a mo difiedform of feeder, which consists of a spirally-wound square rod 17 of a thickness to just fit within the This driving-shaft may r .length, and means for turning said member.

feed member, and means for turning said i of a vertical cylindrical core and a cylindrical space between the core and shell and when in said space'forms a groove or channel between its turns to feed the cement downward and pack it in the mold. In this form of feeder the groove is the full width of the space between the shell and core and the material has a more direct and freer passage than where the groove is formed in the surface of a cylinder.

In both forms, of feeder the groove extends the full length of the feeder and is of such a, length that when the feeder is at the bottom of the mold the groove extends into the hopper, and thus the material is positively fed into the mold by the action of the spiral thread working in the mass of material in the hopper.

Having thus fully described the invention, what I claim is 1. The combination with a cylindrical mold-shell and a core within said shell with a space between, of a hollow cylindrical feed member of a length equal to that of the mold to fit over the core and fill the space and havinga spiral groove extending throughout its 2. The combination with a cylindrical mold-shell and a core within said shell with a space between, of a cylindrical feed member of a length equal to that of the mold to fit over the core within the space and forming a continuous spiral feedgroove extending across the space and the full length of the feed member.

3. The combination with a mold consisting shell around said core, of a vertical support,

brackets on said support adapted to turn thereon, a hopper carried by one of said brackets to turn therewith from over the mold, a feed member guided in bearings on the other bracket and supported thereby eter of the shell and supported adjacent to the upper end of said shell by one of said brackets, a feed member of a diameter to fit within the opening in the bottom of the hopper and within the space between the core and shell .and provided with a spiral feedgroove of a length equal to or greater than the length of the mold, a vertically-extending shaft on the upper end of said feed member engaging bearings on one of the said brackets and free to move longitudinally in said hearings to raise the feed member out of the mold with its lower end within the opening in the hopper and to turn with the hopper from over the mold, and means for turning the shaft of the feed member.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

LUKE R. PEOK. Witnesses:

HENRY PARKER, LOUIS WEAM. 

